


Fire Emblem and the Breath of the Wild

by PieWritesFics



Series: Morgan's Outrealm Adventures [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Big Brother Gerome, Canon-Typical Violence, Cherche is Marc | Morgan's parent, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Female Marc | Morgan, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Robin/Cherche, Interspecies Relationship(s), Link (Legend of Zelda) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Link (Legend of Zelda) Uses Sign Language, M/M, Morgan (Fire Emblem) has a potty mouth, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2020-12-27 18:10:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21123074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PieWritesFics/pseuds/PieWritesFics
Summary: Morgan falls through an Outrealm Gate and finds herself waking up in a field in Hyrule, where her immediate plans are limited to apple eating, making friends with a hungry horse, and checking out that odd glowing tower over there. This changes when she befriends a badly-dressed blond guy who talks with his hands, and they find they have more in common than they thought. Link's mostly just relieved he won't have to face his "destiny" without backup.It's now up to a pair of amnesiacs, armed with a funky ancient tablet and weapons of questionable reliability (and Morgan's thunder magics tome thanks), to calm the Divine Beasts and save Princess Zelda.First order of business? Getting Link a decent pair of pants.





	1. The Displaced Tactician and the Fashion Disaster

Morgan had woken in some strange places, and that was only counting the last two years or so. She had regained little of her lost memory, choosing instead to focus on making new ones to savor. Even so, there was something soothing about the grass tickling at her face, the smell of the forest, the rush of the nearby river. She didn’t really wanna move.

Well, until a bit of her hair was yanked unexpectedly. “_ Yeouch! _ Hey!”

_ Snort! _

The horse danced back, eyeing the young woman warily. Now wide awake and sitting up, Morgan didn’t stop herself from pouting. “I’m not food, you know.”

The horse’s ears flicked, stretching its neck out cautiously. Even a few yards away Morgan could see its nostrils flaring, scenting her, and she had a thought. “Oh. I know what you want.” She dug into one of the inner pockets of her coat, pulling out an apple she’d stashed there for a quick snack. The sniffing intensified. Morgan supposed she should just be glad this was a horse wanting an apple and not a goat wanting to munch on her Thoron tome. 

She held out the fruit, palm flat, and used the same tone she usually reserved for hungry wyverns. “You want this yummy apple, sweet one?”

Ears forward.

“Yeah, you do huh? It’s okay.”

A slight snort, still nervous.

“Come on, sweet one.” Morgan clicked her tongue encouragingly, and that seemed to help the horse push back the nervousness. It came closer slowly, snatching up the fruit when within reach. “That’s a good horsey. You’re kinda cute when you’re not trying to eat my hair.”

The horse snuffled her now empty hand, then mouthed at the apple taste it had inadvertently transferred. The girl raised her other hand, careful not to startle the large animal, and began gently stroking it’s muzzle. Doing so, she took a closer look.

The horse’s mane was a tangled mess, and she’d say from the amount of dirt it was probably not subject to recent grooming. Wild, perhaps? _ ‘Well, it seems to like me well enough anyway. Hardly a wyvern, but perhaps…’ _

Morgan rose up, pulling out a carrot she’d actually picked up for Yarne from the same pocket the apple had been in. This time the horse took it without hesitation, only moving slightly in surprise when the human took the opportunity to jump on while it was chewing. She grinned. “Oh yes, you and I are going to be very good friends!”

The horse shifted, considering bucking her off, but Morgan just pulled out another carrot. This particular horse seemed to be quite food-driven, and she would be exploiting that shamelessly. “You’re really taking this much better than I would have guessed, horsey.” The only response was the crunching of the carrot. “I wonder if you had a human rider before? Oh well- they aren’t here if you did and you need some TLC!”

The snort and more crunching from the horse was taken as a sign of agreement.

“But you need a name,” she continued, gently beginning to work through the knotted mane with her fingers. “Mother called Minerva after a legendary wyvern rider, so… How about Palla?” She hadn’t exactly checked the horse’s anatomy before climbing on, but stallions on the whole tended to have much more attitude. She’d change it if she needed to, but Morgan was pretty sure Palla was a mare.

She didn’t really get a response, other than Palla seemingly losing interest in her new rider and beginning to munch on the grass at their feet. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Morgan decided.

She kept working through the worst of the knots, letting Palla decide where to take her. “Well Palla, you are one lucky horsey, because I have no living clue where we are. Stupid Outrealm Gates… That means you know where to go around here a lot better than I do, so I guess you’re in charge for now.”

The mare seemed to be content with that, swishing her tail while moving over to a patch of grass that had gotten more sunlight.

* * *

Palla had eventually wandered down to a river to get a drink. A herd of also-apparently-wild horses kept a careful distance, moving a bit further upstream. A few of them looked with interest at Palla, but seemed to be deterred by the human on her back.

Five hours later saw Palla clean, brushed, happy, and full. Morgan was soaked, had a brush full of horsehair and mud on her face, and her tummy was gurgling unhappily. Luckily, Palla had found an apple tree before making it to the river, and the young tactician was able to grab several to put away.

Intent on eating one, Morgan climbed up a tree to get a better view of the area. There was a large tent-like building a ways downstream, with a strange effigy on the roof; she couldn’t tell if it was meant to be a horse or some sort of dragon. In the distance, towards some mountains, was an odd tower of glowing orange light. Her first thought was a tower of fire, but there was no smoke, and the light did not flicker like flames did. So _ what was it?! _

There were many things Morgan could not remember about herself- she had had to have her older brother inform her of her favorite colors, for Naga’s sake! One thing that Morgan knew without a doubt about herself, was that she took after her father to the point where a number of traits he exhibited himself were brought to an extreme in her. 

One such trait was curiosity. Morgan now had a new goal in this realm: Find out what that strange glowing tower was all about!

That decided, the girl settled her butt more firmly against the base of the branch she had chosen, pulling out her well-deserved fruit and taking the largest bite she could. 

When she was about to chuck the core as far as she possibly could- more apple trees are always a good thing, right? -a flash of gold below caught her attention. 

There was a boy crouched down, making his way towards where the herd was grazing. A very badly-dressed boy, Morgan noted. His shirt looked like it was ready to fall apart, and those trousers were both ancient and several sizes too small- it was almost impressive he was able to move in them so freely without them simply ripping to shreds. (A voice in her head, which sounded remarkably like Henry, speculated that perhaps the clothing was hexed to keep from disintegrating, and she had to agree that was the most likely explanation.) If Severa caught sight of him, she would shriek in outrage and drag the blond to the nearest tailor!

Actually, Morgan was tempted to do that herself. The only thing on the boy’s body that actually looked durable was the red-patterned bandana he’d tied around his head; even the weapons on his back appeared to have seen better days. She kept watching as he crept up to one of the horses, launching himself up onto its back and hanging on as the startled animal reared. It calmed relatively quickly for a wild horse, the boy holding on only with one hand while delivering soothing strokes to the animal’s neck with the other.

Now even more interested, Morgan dropped out of the tree and swung herself onto Palla, absently dropping the apple core to the ground. “Let’s go make a new friend, girl. _ Hah!_” 

In no time at all they pulled up to the other horse and rider, who seemed to be surprised to see them there, though neither horse stopped trotting towards the funny effigy-tent. “Hi there! I’m Morgan, and this pretty lady is Palla. That was really impressive!”

The tips of the boy’s ears- which were pointy. Was he manakete, or was that common here? -reddened, along with his cheeks as he nodded slightly in thanks. Up close, he wasn’t just cute, he was downright gorgeous. 

Morgan was almost jealous. Almost. With a face like that, he probably got hit on just as much as Libra did, and that was quite frankly more trouble than she was willing to put up with.

The boy lifted a hand, pointing to himself and then signed out a series of letters.

**_L-I-N-K_ **

_ ‘Oh!’ _ Morgan thought. “So you’re Link?” 

She nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he nodded again. “Nice to meet you!” _ ‘Thank the gods at least those signs in this realm are the same as back in Ylisse, otherwise I’d be screwed! Note to self: brush up on sign language.’ _

Link motioned to her, then the tent-building, giving a jerk of his head before pushing his horse into a gallop. Morgan got the hint. Palla tore into the camp right on the heels of the other horse, then went a few yards past where Link had pulled to a stop in front of a man standing under an awning. She reared a bit, letting out a whinney and making Morgan laugh louder than she had all day.

“Quite the entrance!” the man at the window remarked. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a fine steed. Would you care to register her? Only twenty rupees, and you get a locally made saddle and bridle, as well as access to every stable in our network across Hyrule.”

“I’m sorry,” Morgan frowned, “I’m afraid I haven’t got any rupees.” Whatever rupees were. She assumed they were this realm’s basic form of currency.

“Ah,” the man nodded in understanding. “In that case, why not talk with Beedle over there? He travels between our stables, selling wares to patrons. If you’ve anything to sell, he’ll give a good price.”

“Thank you for the advice! I think I’ll do that.” Seeing that the aforementioned merchant was seated on the grass, Morgan led Palla to the side so as not to block the window before dismounting. She caught the tail-end of Link’s conversation with the other man, something about beating a record, gesturing to show where she was going and getting a nod in reply.

“Hey there! How’re you doing today?” the merchant asked. (Morgan noted that his shirt was also too small, though this appeared to be a deliberate fashion choice as it didn’t strain against his shoulders.)

“I’m doing quite well, thank you,” she replied. “Actually, I was wondering if I could sell you some items in exchange for rupees?”

“Of course, of course! I’m always on the lookout for new items. Show me what you’ve got, and I’ll make you an offer.”

“Well, let’s see here… I have a few arrows I’m not going to use.” She rarely missed with a spell or blade, but give her a bow and she was useless. Cynthia had once commented during training that Morgan couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, and she hadn’t even been exaggerating; Morgan literally was unable to hit the abandoned barn they were using as target practice!

He took one, looking it over for any defects. “These are good quality! I can give you four rupees a piece, so that’s twelve rupees for all three.”

“Done!” _ ‘Hm, what else?’ _ Not the apples, she and Palla were going to eat those. “Um, I found this rock…?”

“An opal!” Beedle exclaimed. “I can do sixty rupees for that!”

“Oh, awesome!” She made a note to pick up shiny rocks more often. Honestly she’d just thought it a pretty trinket, but it being worth something was even better. 

Beedle counted the rupees out loud as he placed them on his table, which Morgan found exceedingly helpful. For the arrows, two blue rupees (each worth five) and two green rupees (worth one each). The opal got her two more blue and one purple rupee, which was worth fifty. 

Seventy-two rupees for a handful of arrows and a shiny rock was a-okay in Morgan’s book!

Tucking away her haul, she accidentally dropped a jar containing a beetle she’d collected in hopes of curing Noire of her insectophobia. (In hindsight, her own favorites _ could _ be somewhat intimidating. She really should have started off with a butterfly or something… _ Meh _.) “Oops!”

“Wha-ha-haaaat?!” Beedle practically screeched. “Is that a Bladed Rhino Beetle?!”

“Uh. Yes?”

The sound the merchant let out was almost inhuman. “Beedle loves beetles…! Listen, how ‘bout a trade? I’ll give you an Energizing Elixir for your Bladed Rhino Beetle. Does just what it says! It’s a good deal, right?”

Morgan considered for a moment, mentally taking stock of the other medicine she had on hand. Something so specialized was sure to be helpful in a pinch, though she’d need to keep it in a separate pocket from the general healing and health-restoring Concoctions and Elixirs she already had on hand. “That seems reasonable.” She didn’t exactly have another use for a rhino beetle at the moment, anyway.

“Yes!” Lightning-quick, Beedle snatched up the jarred insect and handed over a phial containing a dark green liquid. His eyes sparkled as he examined his latest acquisition. “Listen, I’m always on the lookout for more of these darlings. So if you find another beetle along your travels, maybe remember your old pal Beedle?”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” The sound of hooves behind her got Morgan’s attention, and she turned to see Link dismounting his own horse. The animal was now sporting a handsome leather saddle and bridle, along with a geometrically patterned saddle blanket. “Oh hey Link! Did you register your horse with the stable?”

He nodded, pulling out registration card to show her for the stallion. “Oh, and you named him Aegis! That’s really cool!”

Link blushed again, tucking the card into his bandana. Clearly Morgan’s earlier assessment of it being his most sturdy piece of clothing was correct.

** _‘Will you register?’_ ** he signed.

“Yup, I just needed some rupees first! I’ll go do that now, then meet you at the cooking fire?” It was starting to get dark, so staying the night was really the safest option for both of them. She didn’t know what foods Link had on him, but she was more than willing to share some roasted apples.

The blond nodded, gesturing to Beedle to show what he’d be doing in the meantime.

Registering Palla was surprisingly straightforward, requiring minimal paperwork on her part. The only question she struggled with was whether or not to enter her in the breeding program the stables ran.

Tasseren, the man behind the front window she’d spoken to earlier, was a great help in explaining. “You have the option to have your horse participate in our breeding program to help our conservation efforts. Horses have always been integral to Hyrule, both for labor and travel, but the Calamity one hundred years ago nearly wiped them all out. Now a days, their numbers are doing much better but they’re still nowhere near what they once were.”

“I see.” Morgan made a mental note to learn more about this _ Calamity _\- it sounded rather similar to the rise of Grima in Lucina’s original timeline. 

Tesseren continued, “Now normally we simply breed the horses signed up when their owners have them boarded, but seeing as your Palla’s a mare it’s a bit more complicated. Many who board with us have multiple steeds, so swapping and using another for a gestation period isn’t a problem. That’s not your situation. A pregnant mare has less stamina and overexertion isn’t good for the foal.” He thought for a moment. “Why don’t you mark that Palla is not to be used for the breeding program at this time? I’d only put her at three or four, so she’s got plenty of prime breeding years left in her. You can always update the registration card in the future if you decide to.”

Morgan thanked Tesseren for his input, deciding to do just that. Soon, Palla was fitted with the proper tack and looking incredibly proud of herself.

“You know you’re pretty, huh Palla?” she cooed on the way to the cook fire. The mare was practically prancing despite being led from the ground. “Let’s go get some dinner and then we can both get some beauty sleep.”

* * *

Link brushed his new horse companion down for the night, contemplating the last few days. He’d run around the Plateau, avoiding bokoblins and going through various temple trials, all so he could get the paraglider and leave, but the old man kept changing the deal. Sure, he’d gotten some useful runes out of it, but it was the principle of the matter! 

Then the strange old man’s “I can do whatever I want and I don’t care what you think about it” attitude had made sense, because he was a _ ghost _ , and also the king. Was the king. Who _ knew him _, apparently, but that actually just aggravated Link even more.

The reason Link had no memories was because he’d apparently been gravely injured fighting the Calamity, and then “slept” for a hundred years. (That sounded a lot like “dead” to him, especially considering the name of the chamber he’d woken up in, but he wasn’t about to split hairs with a ghost who obviously saw Link as far enough beneath him he didn’t need to stick to a bargain he’d made.)

So he’d finally gotten the paraglider, but he’d also been told it was _ his _ job now to defeat the thing that had caused his maybe-death and countless other actual-deaths, because apparently there was a prophecy? Then the ghost of Dead King Rhoam had disappeared before Link could ask him _ what in Hylia’s name everyone else had been doing during that hundred years _. Had they been, what? Sitting on their hands? Farming cuccos?!

_ Had anyone else even tried? _

Descending the Plateau, he’d completed another temple quickly enough. When the man at the Dueling Peaks Stable had challenged him to tame a wild horse, Link had jumped at the chance. A horse meant another living creature, a companion to share his adventures with. A friend.

He wouldn’t be alone anymore.

The pink-haired girl that had ridden up beside him on his way back to the Stable had been a surprise. She spoke with an accent he hadn’t heard before, and a strange fang dangled from a piercing in her right ear. (Her ears were rounded at the top. Link thought that might be unusual, but he’d been asleep-dead for a century and had amnesia, so he didn’t put much stock in the idea.) Morgan seemed eager to get to know him, and he might have been suspicious if she didn’t come off as so genuine about it. Maybe she’d been lonely too.

_ ‘Another traveling companion isn’t a bad thing,’ _ Link thought. _ ‘I’ll just… warn her, what she’s getting into.’ _

Lost in his thoughts, Link began to hum softly while continuing the brush strokes on Aegis. The tune was soothing and familiar, though he had no memory of how he knew it.

“That’s really pretty.” Morgan. He gave her a smile in thanks, watching as she tied Palla off and pulled out a brush. Despite being full of horsehair already, it looked more like it was meant to be used on people, and Link caught sight of a few strands of pink mixed with the black that matched Palla’s mane and tail. His lips ticked into a smile.

“So, I haven’t got much to eat other than some apples I picked earlier,” the girl remarked. “Wanna roast them with me?”

Link nodded, liking the suggestion. ** _‘I have mushrooms. Kabobs?’_ **

“Sure!”

He’d warn her over food. He just hoped his tale didn’t end up scaring away this potential friend, but he wouldn’t blame Morgan if she walked out after learning of the danger he was apparently _ destined _ to get involved with.

(Oh look, Link learned something else about himself: He _ absolutely hated _ prophecies.)

* * *

Later, munching on roasted apple-and-mushroom kabobs (Morgan had looked for sticks while Link lit the cooking fire) the two discussed what they each knew about the area. It was, even collectively, very little. Then Morgan asked him about the, quote, “weird tower.”

“I mean, it looks like it’s on fire, but there’s no smoke!”

‘** _I don’t know what lights it_ ** ,’ Link told her after nearly choking on a piece of mushroom. He hesitated before continuing. _ ‘ _ ** _I’ll be heading there though, after I go to Kakariko Village._ ** _ ’ _

Deciding it was as good a segway as any, Link launched into the story of what he’d done and learned the last few days. Morgan was attentive, not interrupting until he finished, though her eye did twitch a bit at the part where Rhoam went back on their original bargain.

Link had to say, he felt a bit better when she was just as incensed about the whole situation as he was. 

“You mean he just dropped that on you and disappeared without so much as a by-your-leave?!” Link nodded. “That is just-- _ Eugh! _ Who knew a ghost could be so craven?!” She got up, paced around the fire for a minute with her brows drawn tight together, before turning to face him abruptly and perching her hands on her hips.

“You know what?”

_ ‘This is it,’ _ Link thought, tensing. _ ‘There’s no way she’ll want to travel together after that, it’s too dangerous, she could get hurt or worse--’ _

“I’m in.”

_ “What?” _ Link’s voice was barely a gravelly whisper after a hundred years of disuse, and he wasn’t actually convinced he’d ever spoken that much to begin with, but Morgan heard him fine and continued without commenting. (He was grateful for that.)

“I said, I’m in,” she repeated. “Prophecies are crap, and fate can be changed. They want you to be the hero and save the world? You’re one person Link, it’s completely unreasonable to expect you to defeat something so powerful all on your own.” She took a deep breath, looking him in the eye seriously. It was an expression he hadn’t seen from her previously; no hint of a smile, and brown eyes that promised retribution to her foes.

“Listen, my father said something once that really stuck with me, and I think it applies here. He said, ‘We’re not pawns of some scripted Fate. I believe we’re more. Much more.’ He spoke of invisible ties that we forge, connecting us to others not by destiny but by choice.”

She took another breath before continuing, “Link, this may sound mad, but I’m not from here. This land, Hyrule, is not one on any map I’ve seen before coming here, nor had I heard of it before I arrived. There are portals where I’m from, called Outrealm Gates, that can lead to other… well, realms. A woman I know, Anna, has a sister who’s tasked herself with guarding the Outrealm Gate in our kingdom of Ylisse.” For a moment, her face went from its serious look into a pout.

“Actually, she’s not very tidy and forgot to pick up an axe that had fallen over. ...I tripped on the handle and fell through the gate.”

Link almost laughed at the deep blush on her face, offering condolences instead. The girl just shrugged.

“Meh, what’s done is done. Anyway,” she met his eyes again. “I believe what my father said holds merit. He’s the best tactician I know, and I’ve learned at his knee and more recently on the battlefield. There’s good strategy in teaming up, and two or more can oft accomplish what one alone may not.” She paused for breath. “You’re not the only one with amnesia, Link. Nearly three years ago I awoke in a field with no memory of anything except my father. So, when you told me that… I’ve been there. I get it. I _ like _ you, Link, and you need help. I would fight with you, if you’ll have me.”

He didn’t respond at first, just watching her face and processing what she had said. Eventually, he began to sign.

_ ‘ _ ** _It will be dangerous._ ** _ ’ _

“My life is dangerous,” she replied. “I once nearly gave myself a concussion bashing my head against a hitching post.”

He blinked, filing that away for later discussion.

‘** _You could die._ ** _ ’ _

“I could die tripping over another discarded axe, too. Really, though, there’s a chance any fight I enter could end my life. I’m more concerned with how I live it.” Morgan smiled, likely sensing she was wearing him down.

Finally, Link admitted, _ ‘ _ ** _I don’t know what I’m doing._ ** _ ’ _

The girl smiled even wider, handing him another apple-and-mushroom kabob. “Sure you do. You’re eating a delicious dinner with a friend, and tomorrow you’re going to Kakariko Village.”

The bite he took of the food concealed his smile, but Link thought Morgan knew anyway. Perhaps he wouldn’t be lonely anymore.


	2. Koroks and the Road to Kakariko

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our newly acquainted duo and their faithful steeds hit the open road!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kudos for the first chapter! I hope this next one meets your expectations :)

Link was up with the sun the next morning, tossing a few more mushrooms into the cooking pot. He’d been hoping the smell of the food would wake Morgan, but his companion was still snoring lightly, hair a frazzled mess and a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth. He couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. 

Movement from the front of the stable drew his attention to Rensa, the man whose challenge the day before had led him to tame Aegis. He was walking over his way. Link remembered the older Hylian claimed to be good with directions, so it could be worth while to ask. 

** _‘Good morning,’_ ** he signed, knowing Rensa had no problem understanding him.

“Morning,” the man replied, thoughtfully keeping his voice down so as not to disturb the still-sleeping girl. He held out a basket with two cucco eggs. “Thought you could use some protein in your breakfast. You’re heading off today, you mentioned?”

‘ ** _Thank you,_ ** ’ Link replied, grateful for the food. ‘ ** _Yes. We’re going to Kakariko Village._ ** ’

“Ah, that’s not far from here. Would you like me to give you directions?”

The blond nodded, signing  ** _‘Yes, please.’_ **

“In that case the directions to Kakariko are simple! When you’re ready to head off, just take the road north over Kakariko Bridge, then keep on it up the mountain. You can’t miss it!”

** **

‘ ** _Thank you. Will you be joining us for breakfast?_ ** ’

** **

“Any time,” Rensa said, before shaking his head to the question. “No, I have to get started on the morning chores before my boys get up, but thank you for the offer. We’ll eat after the horses do.”

** **

The older man moved off to get started on the day’s work, and Link cracked the eggs into the pot with some mushrooms. The addition to the scent of cooking food soon reached his sleeping friend, and Morgan began to stir with quiet groans of protest.

** **

“ _ Mrrggh _ … Food?”

** **

Link laughed quietly to himself, allowing her to wake at her own pace. It took a few minutes, but eventually she sat up and joined him, still looking like she was ready to fall back to sleep in a second. Morgan blearily accepted the breakfast dish Link offered, yawning around her fork while trying to take a bite.

** **

By the time they were both finishing their portions, Morgan was much more alert. They washed the dishes in comfortable quiet before Link stowed them back into his Sheikah Slate. (Morgan was fascinated by it, but it was far too useful to take apart in hopes of discovering how it worked. In the end she simply decided to put it down to “strange magic,” which Link agreed was as good an explanation as any they were likely to get.)

** **

** _‘Still want to come with me?’_ ** he had to ask. A good night’s sleep often brought clarity, and Link wouldn’t be able to forgive himself for getting her involved in something like this without being sure.

** **

Morgan scowled, slapping him on the shoulder. “Stop that. You just  _ try _ to get rid of me, blondie! I meant every word I said, and you’re not gonna change my mind, you hear?”

** **

_ ‘That actually hurt!’ _ Link grimaced, rubbing his stinging shoulder.  ** _‘Yes, got it.’_ **

** **

In a blink she regained her sunny disposition. “Good! Now, how do we get to Kakariko?”

** **

He relayed Rensa’s directions on the way to the stable. Soon they had Palla and Aegis saddled and fed, ready to set off for the mountain.

* * *

The route to Kakariko turned out to be just as straightforward as Rensa had made it seem. The only problem they had was that Link kept getting the feeling of deja vu. He would pull Aegis to slow even further, though they had set a steady pace upon hitting the north road, and stare at one thing or another with a frustrated expression.

“Link? What’s the matter?” He had stopped in the middle of the stone bridge, looking between the bits that were in okay shape to the sections that had fallen to rubble.

** _‘I know this place,’_ ** he signed perhaps more sharply than he meant to,  ** _‘but I don’t know why!’_ **

A look of understanding dawned on Morgan’s face. “I see. Would you like to stay here a bit to see if anything comes to you? The bridge is about halfway, and we’ve plenty of daylight left.”

Thinking about it, the Hylian frowned. On the one hand, he couldn’t help thinking:  _ Did it matter? _

He had been here before--  _ so what? _ Even if he had, it had been a hundred years ago at least. An  _ actual _ lifetime ago. He knew practically nothing about himself, about  _ his old self-- _ was he even the same person anymore? 

_ ‘This is making my head hurt.’ _ Link shook his head sharply to dismiss the line of thinking, moving his attention outward again.  ** _‘No. Let’s keep going.’_ **

“Okay.”

And that was how it went: Link would notice something, get hit with that feeling again, snap himself out of it and push on. Sometimes he’d pause a bit longer only to find Morgan had waited for him, patiently gazing around for possible enemies.

Somewhere around half-way up the mountain, Morgan suddenly pointed ahead of them. “What is that?”

Link frowned. It almost looked like a tree, but it moved independently and seemed… sad?  ** _‘I don’t know. Let’s go see.’_ ** He nudged Aegis into a trot; Palla and the stallion had been plodding since the path had risen so steeply, neither of the riders seeing a reason to push them. They both rode up to the strange tree and Link clapped a hand against his thigh to get its attention.

  
_ “Shalaka?!” _ it startled in a high-pitched voice. Though it seemed to have no eyes, it moved to face one of them and then the other. “You! You can see me?!”

The two shared a look at the odd question, then Link nodded.  ** _‘Yes, we can see you.’_ **

The strange tree creature squirmed happily. “ _ Shala-zah! Shala-kah!” _ it hummed. “It’s been a hundred years since anyone has been able to see me!”

“That sounds so lonely!” Morgan exclaimed.

“It was, a bit… But! You two can see me!” Suddenly it seemed to remember something. “I’m Hestu, and… I need your help.”

Blue and brown gazes sharpened at that.  ** _‘What’s wrong?’_ ** Link signed.

Hestu gestured farther up the path, at a group of boulders. “Those monsters over there stole my beloved maracas!” he lamented. “I think they’re still on the other side of those rocks. I can’t use my powers without them,  _ shoko… _ So please!  _ PLEASE _ get my maracas back from them!”

Well, Link couldn’t very well ignore that. The Hylian frowned at the archway that served as the only way through.

“The horses won’t fit through there,” Morgan noted, apparently thinking along the same lines. Link nodded in agreement.

** _‘I’ll take care of it. You stay here with the horses and Hestu.’_ **

“Now wait just one minute!” The girl spoke sharply enough Link felt his posture straighten automatically and he snapped wide his eyes to her face. “We can’t even see what kind of creatures we’re dealing with. We don’t know their numbers and that small arch is a serious bottleneck. I’m all for smashing heads, but let’s do this the smart way. Hestu!”

Hestu let out a shriek at having that level of intensity suddenly directed at him.  _ “Sh-shala?!” _

“How many of them did you see when they took your maracas?”

“How many? Um…” Hestu thought about it. “ _ Shoko… _ I think there were three.”

Morgan nodded. “Okay.” That intense gaze was turned back to Link. She didn’t look mad, he thought, just… incredibly determined. “I’ve got a plan.”

The plan was simple: Link would get the creatures’ attention to lure them out, using his bomb rune if they emerged from the arch in a cluster. He would then attack with the various melee weapons he’d picked up, equipping a Sheikah shield and the sword that was in the best condition while keeping the others tucked into the Slate. Morgan would cover him with magic, positioning herself between the battle zone and where Hestu stood with the horses.

It actually went rather well, and Link found himself grateful for both the plan to follow and the backup. Sure, he  _ could _ beat three bokoblins, but these green ones were stronger than the red bokoblins that had been commonplace on the Plateau and more aggressive to boot. A few times he’d turned around, only to see a jolt of electricity knock one away just as it had been about to bludgeon him from behind. If Link had gone in alone and without a plan, he’d have come out much worse off than he was-- if he came out at all.

At the end of the skirmish, which really only took about two minutes but felt longer since he’d been in the middle of it, Link had three bokoblin horns and only minor injuries to show for it. Morgan jogged over, handing him a small phial of dubious-smelling liquid. He felt his nose scrunch up.

“It’s a Vulnerary,” she explained after laughing at him. “The taste is terrible and the smell not much better, but it does help to heal injuries faster and stave off infection.”

Making another face, he decided it was best swallowed as quickly as possible so maybe he wouldn’t have to taste it, and threw the foul medicine back in one shot. To his surprise it didn’t taste as bad as he expected, but he was still happy to see the canteen of water Morgan offered him.

** _‘Thank you,’ _ ** he signed to her as they walked through the archway. 

“Of course,” she said. “I have a bunch of healing potions on me, so don’t be shy about it when you get hurt.”

** _‘No,’_ ** Link shook his head, stopping her to look at her seriously.  ** _‘I mean thank you for stopping me. And for fighting with me. I think I’m starting to see what you meant about strategy yesterday.’_ **

The girl’s face was a near perfect match for her hair. “I-- That is, uh…” she struggled for a reply, finally setting on the warmest smile he’d seen from her so far. “You’re welcome.”

He grinned at her before moving forward into the bokoblin campsite, easily spotting the distinctive chest on a raised platform. This was the easy part.

_ ‘Here they are,’  _ Link thought with relief. The magic that kept the bokoblin chests locked dissipated once the creatures connected to it were killed, so a key hadn’t been needed. Link was just happy Hestu’s maracas were  _ in _ the chest, and that the bokoblins hadn’t done something silly like thrown them off the cliff’s edge.

Back on the path, Morgan stopped to examine the weapons of the felled bokoblins. The two clubs got only a cursory look, and the shield was quickly dismissed as rudimentary and not worth carrying around. She inspected the Boko Spear longest, testing it for balance in her hands and running delicate fingers around the sharp end.

He tapped her shoulder to get her attention.  ** _‘What are you doing?’_ **

“Oh! Um,” she seemed momentarily embarrassed. “I was just wondering if it would be helpful for me to keep a weapon handy as well. My magic is good, but generally more suited for longer range attacks.”

Link blinked. He hadn’t thought of that.  ** _‘What weapons can you use?’_ **

“Oh, I’m at least half-decent with almost anything!” she laughed. “My father taught me magic but he also saw to it I was handy with a sword. My brother Gerome and our mother, though, prefer lances or axes over other things.”

** _‘You’re trained in all of that?’_ ** he asked thoughtfully.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to say  _ that, _ ” Morgan corrected. “Magic is what I’m most comfortable using, though a sword is a close second. With an axe or lance I would place myself much closer to  _ ‘competent’ _ than  _ ‘proficient.’ _ ”

** _‘Competent can get the job done in a pinch,’_ ** Link countered. He reached for his Sheikah Slate, motioning her over.

“What’s up?”

He didn’t answer immediately, hands busy looking for the right storage section. The Hylian opened the tab that held all the melee weapons his packrat tendencies had urged him to pick up on the off-chance they might be useful. ‘ ** _Pick one,’_ ** he signed.

Seeing that it was pretty much as full as it could get, Morgan’s eyes nearly popped. “ _ Gods, _ Link, just how many have you  _ got _ in that thing?!”

The boy shrugged sheepishly, looking away to hide his blush.

His friend sighed. “Well, I won’t ever have to worry about you going unarmed, it seems. Would you mind me taking one of these?” She pointed to a Traveler’s Sword, and Link nodded easily, calling the weapon out to hand to her. He had two more if that one broke, and he was confident they’d both find something better along the way.

* * *

In their absence, Hestu had apparently taken to mumbling sadly to himself about his maracas. The horses had moved off to the side to graze, realizing that something that could talk was not food no matter how much it resembled an odd bit of vegetation. (Morgan would later berate herself for not thinking of the possibility, considering it yet more evidence that she had yet to match up to her father’s level.)

Hestu was so engrossed with his melancholy that he failed to notice them approaching until Link stood directly before him with the maracas in hand.

“SHALA-KALA!” Hestu exclaimed. “Those are…” He trailed off as he leaned over, seeming to examine the maracas more closely. 

“Those are my maracas!” Hestu declared, squirming happily. “Please  _ giiiiiiiiiive them to meeeeeeee! _ ” Link nodded, handing them to the excited creature.  _ “SHAAAA~ LAAAA~ KAAAAH!”  _ he sang out, holding the precious maracas up in the air.

But when Hestu tried to shake them, no sound came. 

“Oh!” he cried. “Something’s wrong with my maracas…”

Link frowned, feeling like he should remember something in this situation. Something far more recent than a hundred years ago.

“No noise came out,” Morgan noted. “Is there nothing inside to shake…?”

“The Korok seeds inside are gone!” Hestu confirmed. “How am I supposed to dance now?  _ Shoko… _ ”

  
Suddenly Link snapped his fingers, startling them both.  ** _‘If you had more Korok seeds, that would fix it?_ ** ’ he asked.

“Yes! If I just had  _ one _ Korok seed, I could sing, dance and use my powers to help you!”

Morgan blinked, tilting her head at this new bit of information. “Help us?”

Hestu nodded emphatically. “You see, I have the power of inventory expansion! If I sing and dance for you, my magic can make it so you’ll be able to carry more with you on your journey!”

Link snapped his fingers in rapid succession, bringing their attention back to him before signing,  ** _‘I have some Korok seeds.’ _ ** He went on to explain seeing some things out of place, checking them out only to find little Koroks who had given him the seeds to hold onto.  ** _‘I didn’t think about it until just now,’ _ ** the boy added, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“The children of the forest must have taken the Korok seeds from my beloved maracas,” Hestu deduced. “I never thought I’d be the target of one of their pranks.  _ Shoko… _ But you have Korok seeds! If you give me just one, I’ll make your inventory bigger!”

** _‘Yes, please!’_ **

_ “SHA-KAH~!” _

Morgan had to admit that the dance was… something. It was happy, involving some fun hip-pops that she wouldn’t have guessed for a creature built like Hestu, and the finale was an energetic shout coinciding with a burst of berries and leaves from the maracas. She found herself clapping, while Link simply appeared not to know what to make of the display. The Sheikah Slate glowed briefly, and a quick check proved that the magic had indeed done its job.

** _‘Thank you,’_ ** Link signed.

“Shalakah~ You’re welcome!” The large Korok(?) sniffed the air. “I think there are more Korok seeds nearby. I have to get home before dark, or Grandpa will be mad, but there’s still hours until sunset. I’ll stay here a little longer, so, if you find more Korok seeds bring them to me and I’ll use my magic for you again!”

** _‘Okay!’_ **

Link’s sharp whistle pierced the air, calling the horses over from the patch of grass they were trimming. Palla and Aegis seemed grateful for the break they’d gotten, and let their riders back on with little to no fuss. 

It wasn’t long after resuming their journey that Link snapped his fingers to draw her attention once more.  ** _‘Look there,’_ ** he signed, indicating some strange metal blocks stuck in the mountainside. One of them appeared to have fallen, sitting on a small ledge beside the trail. ** _ ‘This is the kind of thing I meant. There may be a Korok here.’_ **

The hylian pulled out the Slate, selecting the Magnet Rune and using it to lift the metal block back to the missing space. To Morgan’s surprise, as soon as it was released from the rune’s power a small burst of smoke appeared where the block had been. It cleared to reveal a much smaller, though otherwise similar-looking, creature to Hestu.

_ “Yahaha!” _ it giggled. “You found me!” The little Korok passed a seed to Link without further explanation, then waved happily at them both. “Buh-bye!”

Morgan stared, dumbfounded, as Link held out his hand to show her the Korok seed. “You know… I think I can understand why you didn’t think of it before Hestu said something.”

Link laughed.

* * *

Around the next corner, Link suddenly jumped off of Aegis’ back and ran over to a particularly shiny boulder on the side of the path. Taking a hammer half his size out of the Slate, the blond waled on it a few times until a chunk fell clean off. He held it up to show her before stowing it, and the hammer, back in the device.

“Is that a chunk of rock salt?” Morgan asked.

He nodded.  ** _‘If we can’t use it for cooking we can get a good price for selling it.’_ **

“Good thinking!”

Link ducked his head bashfully, swinging back up onto Aegis. The stallion didn’t seem nearly as impressed.  ** _‘There were some bits of flint over there too. Making a fire will be easier now, if we need it.’_ **

“ _ Excellent. _ ”

Aegis snorted loudly, starting to move forward without care if his rider was ready or not. A likely reason showed itself up ahead. 

As the travelling road narrowed, a few thin waterfalls trickled down the mountainside, creating small pools of fresh, cool water. The horses wasted no time in getting a drink, happy for the refreshment after such a long trek. While they drank their fill, Morgan and Link pulled out their own canteens and refilled them directly from the flow. The young tactician didn’t bother stopping herself from throwing her head back and taking a few gulps right there.

They didn’t linger for too long though. The sounds of village life were easily heard now, and it wouldn’t do to block the path to anyone going the other way.

It was when they were going beneath the orange flags marking the limits of the village that Link’s ears twitched. He frowned, halting his horse and holding one hand up in a gesture for Morgan to do the same. Without the clopping of hooves covering it, the sound plain to hear.

** _‘Do you hear that?’_ ** Link signed.  ** _‘It sounds like someone’s hurt.’_ **

“They sound close,” Morgan agreed. “Go. I’ll bring the horses.”

Link nodded, dismounting and moving quickly in the direction of the groaning. Morgan had been correct; he only had to round the corner before coming across an elderly woman on the ground, clutching her ankle in pain.

“Traveler!” the woman called, noticing him as he walked up to her. “I’m sorry, but I seem to have twisted my ankle… Now, let’s see here…” She muttered something even Link couldn’t hear, moving her wrinkled hands over the injury before sighing in relief and getting up as though she’d never been hurt in the first place. “There, that’s better!”

He was still flabbergasted when Morgan came leading the horses.

“Everything okay here?” she asked slowly, eyes moving between the apparently-perfectly-alright old woman and her gaping companion.

“Oh yes,” the woman said. “I’m afraid I twisted my ankle, but it’s quite alright now.”

Morgan blinked. “I… I see.”

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that,” she continued, addressing Link directly. He just waved her off, finally getting ahold of himself after the elder’s unexpectedly quick recovery. The movement caused light from the small fire to catch the Slate at his left hip. “Oh! Say, traveler… Where did you get that… object, hanging from your waist?”

Link took a deep breath, readying himself to tell this story for the second time in two days. Maybe he’d just stick to the short version.

* * *

Link did stick to the short version-- the  _ very _ short version. He’d woken up, he saw the Slate on a pedestal, he picked it up and the door opened. The end! A perfectly short explanation for a very specific question.

It turned out he didn’t even need to tell the rest of the story, anyway. The old woman’s information even touched Dead King Rhoam’s.

“That Sheikah Slate is a symbol. It means you are the Hero of Legend.” If she saw Link’s harsh flinch at the title, the woman gave no indication of it. “Though there are few who know of such legends anymore… But we Sheikah have been waiting for you a very long time.”

Her warm smile made him uncomfortable, and even though the elder didn’t seem to notice, the same could not be said for Morgan. She’d moved closer during the exchange, purposely brushing her arm against his as a reminder that she would stand with him. Link noticed the smile his friend aimed at the old woman contrasted with the coolness in her eyes. 

Still, the elder didn’t notice, keeping her own eyes locked on  _ the Hero. _ “Please… Before all else, I must insist that you meet with our leader, Lady Impa.”

Link found himself nodding, honestly just wanting to get away from this Sheikah woman and the weight of the  _ expectations _ in her eyes. Morgan was clearly of similar mind, taking his hand firmly in hers and continuing to smile-not-smile.

“We’ll do that, ma’am,” she assured in a tone that suggested butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. “Have a  _ wonderful _ day!”

Link let himself be pulled back over to the horses. He wondered if he shouldn’t be just a little afraid of Morgan when she was like this.  _ ‘No,’ _ the boy decided,  _ ‘I think I’ll just be glad she’s on my side.’ _

He caught the glow of another temple overlooking the village. It was as good a place as any to get away from people, and he could show Morgan a bit of what to expect when they went to the tower later. After crossing the bridge, the blond Hylian tugged at her hand, still gripping his, and pointed.  ** _‘I have something to show you.’_ **


	3. Ta'loh Naeg Shrine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A disembodied voice and a damaged robot drag out some unpleasant memories our heroes will have to work through... and talk about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Morgan and Link both have a little bit of PTSD going on, but it doesn't get too bad this chapter. Morgan has a potty mouth when her emotions run so high.

Morgan wasn’t really certain what to make of it when Link, after once again mounting Aegis so as to make a quicker escape, led the way up a steep path. The path in question didn’t have any evidence of frequent use. In fact, the only thing she noticed at first were a few cuccos. 

That changed when they rounded the corner.

The soft glow that she had attributed to another fire like the one at the village entrance was in fact coming from an odd protrusion of rock. Indented veins of yellow-orange light twisted along the stone, preventing the almost cave-like structure from being completely overrun by moss. There was a pedestal just below the overhang that had more angular patterns of light running through it, and if Morgan were to guess she would say that the stairs and floor leading up to the overhang was constructed of some type of extremely durable metal.

“Link, what is this place?” Her voice came out a lot more breathily than she had intended, but she was still too preoccupied gaping to be embarrassed.  _ ‘What is it? Who made it? Why? It’s not hot and there’s no fire, so what’s making the glow?’ _

** _‘It’s a temple.’ _ **

The girl frowned. “A temple? Like, a place of worship?”

Link shrugged, signing,  ** _‘Not exactly, at least I don’t think so.’_ ** The Hylian waved her forward, looking as though he was suppressing a smile.  ** _‘Come see. Can you find a way to get in?’_ **

That humored expression made her suspicious. Brown eyes narrowed accusingly. “You know something I don’t, don’t you?”

** _‘Caught me,’_ ** he admitted shamelessly.  ** _‘I thought you might like a puzzle to solve.’_ **

“That sounds like a challenge.”

** _‘If you like.’_ **

“Oh, it’s  _ on _ .” She got the feeling he was trying to distract himself, and besides, she never  _ could _ pass up something like this.

First, Morgan walked around the perimeter to make sure there wasn’t something obvious, like a trick stone in the back. Then she climbed the damn thing, just to be thorough. (From the look on his pretty face, Link hadn’t expected her to go quite _ that _ far, but hey. Morgan was dedicated like that.) Finally having ruled out any other entrance, she turned her attention to the sheltered area of the cave lip.

Inside was a bust. No buttons, or leavers, or trap doors to be found, and the same could be said for the steps. The only thing left that could possibly be a mechanism was that pedestal.

“If the pedestal is the lock, what functions as the key?” she murmured. 

Examining the surface revealed a rectangular indent, perfectly centered. Suddenly she remembered what that Sheikah woman had said, and her own conclusion that Link’s slate was powered by strange magics. She smacked herself on the forehead.

“It’s the Slate, isn’t it?” Link nodded, grinning at her and clapping a bit in show. Morgan’s mind was still racing ahead though. “Wait, so if the Slate opens the door to the temple, does that mean the glowing from the temple is powered by the same magics that allow your Slate to function?”

A blink.  ** _‘I hadn’t thought about that. Probably?’_ **

“We can think about it later,” Morgan acquiesced. “Now, show me how to open this thing!”

Placing the Slate into the slot on the pedestal set off a clear reaction: The veins of light changed into a blue color, and the slats blocking the entrance folded away like metal fingers. Beyond the door was a small chamber with the same crying-eye symbol that decorated the Slate, also glowing blue.

** _‘We have to stand on the eye,’_ ** Link explained, motioning to get onto the platform together. No sooner had the two stopped moving than the light encircling the eye glowed brighter, creating a barrier as the floor began to descend.

_ “Wow.” _ Morgan could admit that this was not even close to what she had imagined upon hearing the word  _ temple _ . The room they were brought into was easily as large as the Ylissian throne room, and mostly empty. There were a pair of chests opposite one another, to the left and right of where they now stood, and a few pillars with glowing blue crystals providing light.

As they stepped away from the dais, a voice sounded. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, and if asked Morgan wouldn’t be able to describe it. It was as if it was  _ in her head _ more than in her ears, and for a brief moment she was completely terrified that Grima was back and would be able to possess her and use her body to kill Link and _ ‘No no no this isn’t happening--’ _

_ ...I am Ta’loh Naeg… _

“Mother  _ fucker! _ ”

_ I share with you my knowledge, that it may please Hylia. _

Concerned at her outburst, Link gently put a hand on her shoulder.  ** _‘Are you okay?’_ ** he asked when she looked at him.

Morgan realized she was breathing more heavily than she should be, though the physical contact helped in calming her down. “Y-yeah, I… Sorry, I just.” She sighed. “Sorry.”

The boy was less than convinced.  ** _‘Do you want to talk about it?’_ **

The girl bit her lip. “Maybe later? After we’ve taken care of things here?”

Those blue eyes seemed to stare into her soul for a moment, before he finally nodded.  ** _‘Then we should get started.’_ **

Without further preamble, Link moved to one of the chests and kicked it open. He pulled out a shield identical to the one on his arm, painted with the crying eye.  ** _‘Come here,’_ ** he signed. When she did, the blond immediately set to fastening it to her arm.

She pouted, still somewhat off from earlier. “I appreciate the sentiment, Link, but I’m really better at dodging than blocking.”

He made sure it would stay like it was supposed to, then gave it a firm tap.  ** _‘This will make me feel better.’_ **

“Are these temples usually dangerous?”

Link thought for a moment, then shook his head.  ** _‘Mostly puzzles. Solve the puzzle, get to the end.’_ ** For a half second the boy’s gaze went haunted, like Gerome and the other kids from the future would do sometimes. He looked at her seriously.  ** _‘One had small guardians-- machines made to kill. You need to be safe.’_ **

What he said made sense, but it was the emotion in his eyes that convinced Morgan. “Okay,” she agreed, “I’ll be careful if you do too.”

** _‘Deal.’_ **

The second chest held a beautifully crafted blade that would have made even Lon’qu green with envy. Link wasted no time in swapping it with the Traveler’s Sword he had left out of the Slate, and Morgan found herself hoping they’d find a second one somewhere around.

When Link stepped closer to the center of the room, the floor suddenly began to rumble. On high alert, they both drew their weapons, watching with sharp eyes as a platform with a strange mechanical creature rose into sight. It had limbs like metal tentacles, and one side was sparking where an arm had been detached. The other arm held a machete-like blade glowing all over with the same blue light that was clearly a theme of this shrine. Link froze.

When the voice sounded again, Morgan ground her teeth. She forced herself to listen to the words rather than let the panic take her mind. _ ‘It’s not Grima, it’s not Grima…’ _

_ Use a side hop to avoid enemy attacks. This will create an opening that you can use to strike back. _

Her eye twitched when that was all the voice had to say. The mechanical creature just chirped at them, twisting its remaining arm to indicate what it apparently expected. However, it didn’t move toward them, waiting for one of them to make the first move. Turning to Link, she saw that expression on his face again, now fully at the forefront. The Hylian was staring at the robot, gripping his new sword so hard his arm was trembling.

_ _

_ “Guardian.” _ He mouthed the word, or maybe whispered it so quietly she simply didn’t catch the sound, but this was one of the creatures he had mentioned had been in another of the shrines.

_ _

“Link.” He didn’t react.  _ “Link!” _ His eyes snapped to her face. “I’ve got your back! You’re not alone.” Morgan brandished her own sword he’d given to her, indicating the Guardian with a nod. “You ready?”

_ _

The boy took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He stopped shaking, allowing the grip he had on his weapon to loosen to something more natural. Another deep breath, and then he nodded.

_ _

The Guardian turned out to be surprisingly unskilled in battle, like it was allowing itself to be attacked. Morgan had had more serious spars playing Justice Cabal with Owain. It only struck out occasionally, and seemed to only aim for Link. Perhaps it was tracking the Slate…?

_ _

Regardless, the two of them got in several blows before the guardian even got close to landing one itself. When it finally did, Link instinctively did exactly what the voice had indicated: he jumped to the side. Morgan blinked and the next thing she knew, her friend was delivering a veritable flurry of strikes. The slashes were so fast her eyes could barely track the movement, and when the voice jerked her out of her concentration she flinched.

_ _

_ Do a backflip to dodge enemy attacks and create an opening to strike back. _

_ _

“Seriously!” she snapped. “This whole thing is seriously just a  _ Godsblessed training exercise?! _ ” Was she irritated?  _ Damn right _ she was irritated! The unexpected disembodied voice had wrenched a serious fear of hers from where she had buried it  _ deep _ at the back of her mind. In addition, if the haunted look Link adorned was any indication,  _ he _ clearly had had some trauma with Guardians, even if he  _ couldn’t _ remember it. 

_ _

And this place had just snagged both of those issues and dragged them kicking and screaming into the light…  _ for a mediocre training exercise. _

_ _

_ Yeah. _ She was pissed.

_ _

Link, apparently just as done with this process as she was, forced himself to stand in one spot and wait for the Guardian’s next attack so he could _ do a fucking backflip. _ The barrage of attacks he unleashed afterwards was, if Morgan wasn’t mistaken, even more intense than the previous one. Their opponent was now smoking a bit.

_ _

When the voice sounded again she had to bite her cheek to keep herself from hurling insults and blasphemes at it.

_ You can repel an attack if you parry with your shield at just the right time. Strike back in the opening you create. _

She honestly wasn’t sure what was more offensive: The fact that this training exercise had effectively ripped open old wounds in both of their cases, or the fact that it did so to  _ “teach” _ such basic lessons! She was pretty sure she had a memory of her father teaching her the shield bit when she was somewhere around six.

Link looked resigned, doing exactly what the voice had told him and once again unleashing his frustration on his mechanical adversary.

_Build your power, then unleash it to create a charge attack. Catch your enemies in this motion to damage them._

Morgan frowned thoughtfully.  _ Fine, _ that was less basic, and actually somewhat useful. Link did as instructed, backing away for a moment, but for once the Guardian decided to take an opportunity to hit him with the glowing machete. “Not happening!” she snapped, using her own sword to block the attack.  _ ‘Could have used the shield… Meh.’ _

That bought just enough time, apparently, because Link struck  _ hard _ . The force of the blow he delivered pushed the Guardian back several feet, and the sword it had held clattered to the ground. The beast itself emitted harsh blue light from where it was damaged, and the two of them were barely able to scramble back to avoid the blast as it exploded in a shower of mechanical bits.

_You have done well to learn these crucial skills. Now, proceed._

On the far side of the room, a set of bars lifted to reveal a doorway.

Dramatically, and deliberately doing the  _ opposite _ of what that Naga-bedamned voice said, Morgan fell ass-first onto the floor and crossed her arms. “You get the feeling that this Ta’loh Naeg person is kind of a dick, too?” she asked petulantly.

Link nodded, straight-faced.

* * *

The blond Hylian carefully gathered the pieces of the exploded Guardian that looked salvageable. It was less a desire to have them around than a feeling that perhaps remnants of old technology, however rudimentary, might be useful.

He was also  _ taking his sweet ass time, _ if only for the meager satisfaction of  _ not _ doing what Ta’loh Naeg had instructed. 

That had been…  _ not _ a good experience. It was a little cathartic to beat a Guardian to smithereens, even a small one, but when it had first emerged his brain had cut off from functioning beyond the basics. Link had been caught between  _ fight _ and  _ flight _ , his body and thoughts stalled. He didn’t want to know what would’ve happened if Morgan hadn’t snapped him out of it, if they had been in  _ actual _ danger.

Thinking of Morgan, his blue eyes cut in her direction. She seemed fine now, and had gone to battle with him without a second thought even before the purpose of the so-called fight was revealed. Still, when the voice of the Sheikah monk had first reached them, Morgan had seemed to panic.

_ ‘Almost like me with the guardian,’ _ he mused.  _ ‘Perhaps that’s it? Did she have a terrible experience, an opponent she couldn’t see but could hear?’ _ Granted, Link didn’t fully know what had happened to make him have such a strong reaction to the old Sheikah robots. He remembered the sound of machinery, blinding blue light, _ pain _ ... and then nothing. 

It had taken seeing one of them again, back on the Plateau, to recall even that much. The one in this shrine had been much smaller, and thankfully much less keen on putting him full of holes.

Link picked up the Guardian Blade, contemplating keeping it to use. The thought made something in his stomach rebel. Instead, he whistled a long, low note to get his friend’s attention. When her eyes met his, he signed,  ** _‘Do you want this?’_ **

“Oh! Um, sure. Thank you.” After swapping the weapons, Morgan gestured to the previously blocked-off room of the shrine. “There’s another chest through that door. Do you think there will be another challenge, too?”

Link considered it, then shook his head.  ** _‘There’s only ever been one in the other temples. That was probably it.’_ **

She exhaled a little louder than was normal. “Okay. And… just so I know before we get in there, will there be more of the disembodied talking? ‘Cause that gives me the heebie jeebies.”

The boy frowned apologetically.  ** _‘Yes. The Sheikah monk will speak at the end.’_ ** He hesitated, not wanting her to get the wrong idea.  ** _‘You can wait out here, if you’d rather. I don’t mind.’_ **

“Thank you, but no,” Morgan declined. “I’m assuming the voices from nowhere are par for the course in these temples. If I’m going to be accompanying you, and I _ am _ , I’m going to need to control this reaction of mine.”

Link bit his lip.  ** _‘I know you said you’d explain later, but will you tell me now? I want to be able to help, if I can.’_ ** Deciding bargaining with her might work better, he added, ** _ ‘I’ll tell you why I froze at that guardian.’_ **

“It’s… a very long story, Link,” she sighed. “I told you my father is a brilliant tactician, yes? Well, he also suffers from amnesia. What are the odds, right?” She laughed a bit, though the sound wasn’t especially cheerful this time. 

** **

“Anyway, Father awoke in a field and met the commander of the Shepherds-- a group of highly skilled warriors in the kingdom of Ylisse who have taken it upon themselves to serve and protect the people. I’ll skip most of the war stories, as they don’t really hold relevance to my aversion to mysterious voices from thin air, but Father has no memories from before that day.”

** **

** _‘How long ago was that now?’_ ** Link asked. 

** **

“Oh, um…” Morgan’s nose scrunched while she ran calculations in her head. “About five years? Perhaps closer to six. I’m not clear on the exact date, to be honest.”

** **

The Hylian frowned, both at the thought of still not having any memories after five years and in sympathy for her family.  ** _‘Your mother must have been beside herself.’_ **

** **

Morgan laughed nervously. “Um, that’s an even longer story, but actually… Mother and Father hadn’t met yet.”

** **

He blinked, stumped.  _ ‘I may not have memories, but I do have basic knowledge of how procreation works, and that makes no sense whatsoever!’  _ Link’s brain insisted.

** **

More nervous laughter, and Morgan brushed some of her pink hair behind her ear. “So, you remember yesterday when I explained that I came from another world? Well… mine isn’t the only one. Actually, the world I call my own isn’t even my original world, at least not the same version of it. I guess I should start at the beginning…”

** **

So Morgan talked. She wove a story about a legendary king of old, a dragon deity of destruction, and a divine dragon worshipped by the people of Ylisse. She told him about the Plegian Grimleal, how they worshipped Grima and how the Plegian castle itself was built in the shadow of the Fell Dragon’s very remains. Somewhere during that part of the story they had both settled on the floor of the temple.

** **

She told him about Validar, her paternal grandfather who wanted nothing more than Grima’s resurrection. From her research, Morgan had discovered that Validar’s wife at the time had taken their child and disappeared into the night, never to be seen again. Her grandmother was apparently descended from Grima, or perhaps from Grima’s oracle. When she had discovered her husband planned to use their child as a vessel for the Fell Dragon, she grabbed her son and got the hell out of there.

** **

_ ‘Smart lady,’ _ Link thought, already approving of this woman he hadn’t met.

His friend went on to tell him that Validar had found her father again when he had attempted to assassinate the Exalt, Ylisse’s ruler and the elder sister of the Shepherd’s commander her father had befriended. It was when she got into the story of Lucina, at the time known as Marth after the Hero King of legend, that things began to fit together in a more bizarre way.

“Lucina came from a bleak future. Grima had returned, possessing my father’s body and using it to kill hers,” Morgan admitted solemnly. “Or so I’m told, being that neither of us were actually present. The divine dragon Naga had created a ritual, to be used in the event of Grima’s rise to power. Lucina and her friends, all descendants of Chrom’s Shepherds, met the conditions laid out and Naga sent them back in time in the hope that they could prevent the destruction that had been wrought.”

The Hylian realized he was gawping, and snapped his jaw closed.  ** _‘You travelled back in time.’_ **

The girl shrugged. “Apparently. Time travel is… imprecise. Though I am the only one lacking my memories, everyone was scattered in both location and, er, arrival.”

He frowned.  ** _‘How do you mean?’_ **

Morgan took a deep breath. “Well, to use a specific example, Lucina appeared at the very beginning of the events with Plegia, before war had officially broken out. Laurent came through nearly three years before that. Though Lucina was the first to be born, because Laurent ended up being sent farther back in time, he’s actually ended up passing her in age due to that difference.”

That was actually terrifying to think about. Link tried to imagine what it would be like to be surrounded by allies, by  _ friends _ , and then suddenly be all alone in possibly hostile territory. His chest felt painfully empty at the thought.  _ (A part of him wondered if that wasn’t what had happened to him after all.) _

** _‘You were alone? All of you?’_ **

“Yeah.” She smiled, attempting to reassure him. “In my case, I woke up in a field without any memories other than of my father… sounds almost familiar, eh? Other than a massive headache, mostly I was just confused about where I was and how I’d gotten there. I wandered into some ruins that happened to be crawling with Risen. In a stroke of pure luck, the Shepherds had heard of the same ruins and come treasure hunting.” 

Morgan laughed, genuinely happy at this memory. “I was so relieved to see Father, at first I completely dismissed that he was more than a decade younger than he should have been!”

Link smiled a little. Even only having known her a day, he could see her doing something like that. He remembered the reason she was telling him all of this in the first place, and asked seriously,  ** _‘What does this have to do with your reaction to the voice?’_ **

When her smile disappeared, the Hylian couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. “Father told me of meeting Validar again, before we’d reunited.” Morgan spoke almost in a whisper, as if speaking more loudly would encourage the bad events she described. “He tried to take him over, to get him to let Grima in. But he was miles away-- it was Validar’s voice in his head!”

Link placed his hand on her shoulder in an attempt at comfort, getting a small smile in response. 

“When I first heard a voice coming from nowhere and everywhere, my first thought was Grima. My second was Validar,” she told him bitterly. “I feared-- I  _ fear _ , Grima taking me over, like that. Using my body as a helpless vessel to kill everyone I care for. 

“It shouldn’t be possible,” she continued quickly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. (Not wanting him to fear her, to hate her.) “We defeated Grima. Father… Dad sacrificed himself, at that final battle. He disappeared for weeks. Gerome… A few of the others feared him dead, but Mother wouldn’t hear of it, you know?” The girl laughed a little. “Or Chrom, for that matter. It was Henry who finally found a way to track him down, some ritual involving Risen limbs, portions of leg from about sixteen different species of spider, and some blood from my brother and myself.”

** _‘And he was alright?’_ **

She hesitated. “He was… a bit out of it at first, but eventually yes. It took a while for him to get back to normal again, and to be able to relax. Everyone helped where they could, of course, but Mother and Henry were by his side almost constantly. ...I think Minerva may have sat on him at some point.”

** _‘He’s lucky to have all of you,’_ ** Link commented.

As promised, he told her what little he had recalled about the Guardians.  _ Sound, light, pain, nothingness. _

“You were hit,” Morgan concluded. She was grimacing sympathetically and scanning him over for signs of injury, though he wasn’t sure if it was a conscious choice. “Badly, by the sounds of it.”

** _‘That’s what I’ve figured, yes.’_ ** Wanting to assuage any concerns, he continued,  ** _‘I had no injuries when I woke up though.’_ **

She considered this, teeth worrying at her lip. “Okay, so. We have to be careful of disembodied voices on my end, and those Guardians on yours.” Her eyes went unfocused, thinking again, and Link snapped his fingers to get her attention.

** _‘You told me you had my back,’ _ ** he reminded her.  ** _‘That goes both ways. If it happens, we know. Anything else comes up, we talk about it. Deal with it together. Deal?’_ ** The blond decided that even though she came from outside Hyrule, there were some things that were likely universal, and held one hand out with his pinkie finger extended.

“Deal!” Morgan locked her finger with his, proving Link’s theory about Pinkie Promises.

* * *

** ~OMAKE~ **

**** At a small cabin just outside of Wyvern Valley, a certain tactician was coming out of a sneezing fit.

“Oh my!” Cherche fretted. “Robin, are you quite alright? Perhaps you shouldn’t have played so much with Minerva this morning.” An indignant roar could be heard from outside.

Henry laughed from his place at the table. “We know you love Robin, Minerva! It’s not your fault that Valm’s full of pollen this time of year.” The Dark Mage continued, aiming his famous smile at his boyfriend, “Besides, I’d say that sounded more like someone’s talkin’ about you.”

“Who would be talking about me  _ that much? _ ” Robin grumbled, wiping his nose with the hanky his wife had found.

“Morgan,” Henry and Cherche said at the same time. The curse-slinger held one hand up for a high-five, which was completed without comment by his likewise smiling girlfriend. His grin widened as Robin sighed dramatically at them both.  _ That  _ was a point he had to concede!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Morgan and Link could both do with some therapy, but neither one is going to be getting it any time soon.
> 
> Yes, Robin and Cherche have brought Henry into their marriage. Morgan doesn't know yet; Gerome knows, and wishes he didn't because his parents' sex life in any form is NOT something he wants to be thinking about!


	4. New Clothes & Old Faces: Meeting Lady Impa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link finally gets some decent clothing, and ropes Morgan into it too. Afterwords, Lady Impa gives a history lesson.

The last room of the shrine was predictably uneventful, at least from Link’s perspective. The final chest had contained only a single, large opal, which had caused Morgan to go off on a tirade about “meager compensation for setting off trauma.” It was a sentiment the blond boy found himself agreeing with, but ultimately dismissing as something they could do nothing about.

When Ta’loh Naeg had bestowed upon him the Spirit Orb and disappeared into so many green embers, it had set the rose-haired girl to muttering unflattering things about the undead under her breath. 

Suspecting it was the situation on the whole that still had his friend so on-edge, he led the way back outside. With the sun shining down on them, Link was gratified to see some of the tension leak out of her. They stood for a moment, just taking in the fresh air and observing the people of Kakariko going about their day. The shrine entrance had a good view of the village below, and since none of the citizens had looked up to notice the change in the lighting they didn’t have to worry about being gaped at. In the hour or so they’d been inside, Palla and Aegis had made decent progress at trimming the grass around the structure.

_ “Aha!” _ Morgan’s triumphant exclamation jerked Link out of his reverie. He followed the line of her pointing finger, finding what appeared to be a clothing store from the sign out front. “We’re going there next,” she insisted at his questioning expression. “You  _ need _ new clothes.”

He frowned, tugging at the too-small shirt he wore. He’d gotten it, as well as his shoes and trousers, out of the first chests he found when he left the Resurrection Chamber. Since he’d woken up in his underwear he figured it was a decent guess that the clothes had been left for him on purpose. If that was the case the locks had done little to help preserve them. Not only did they not fit him properly, the thin fabric was littered with moth holes and fraying around the lower hems.

It was something of a miracle they hadn’t fallen apart, considering all Link had put them through in the past week or so. Fighting, climbing, running through the _ freezing cold hellscape _ the map on his Slate called Mount Hylia… 

_ ‘Yeah, it’s time for better clothes,’ _ he thought, nodding his agreement to her statement. _ ‘Before these give up the ghost and I’m fighting off bokoblins in my smallclothes!’ _

Morgan cheered, grabbing him by the arm and almost dragging him down to the village proper. They left the horses to their grazing, knowing they were safe enough and would come when called for.

At the sound of the bell above the door, the Sheikah woman behind the counter turned to beam at them. “Hello! Welcome to  _ Enchanted _ , Kakariko’s very own high-end armor boutique. You two must be travelers; it’s always so lovely to see new faces.”

Link waved somewhat awkwardly while Morgan chirped out a “Hi there!”

“So, how can I help you today?” the shopkeeper asked.

Link blushed a bit, glancing bashfully down at his tatty clothing.  ** _‘I’d like to buy some clothes please,’_ ** he signed,  ** _‘but I have some things to sell first.’_ **

To her credit, the woman didn’t bat an eye at his appearance. “Of course. What are you looking to sell?”

If his Sheikah Slate actually increased in weight from anything he put into it, it would have been significantly lighter by the time he’d finished unloading all of the various gemstones he’d collected. If the sparkle in her eye was anything to go by, the shopkeeper was just as pleased with the transaction. 

“Take as much time as you need to look around,” she said. “If you have any questions about our goods, I’ll be happy to answer them.”

** _‘Thank you.’ _ **

Morgan was already over to one side, scrutinizing a red tunic that seemed of good quality. “Hey Link, come ‘ere! These match your bandana!”

Looking for himself, she was right. The tunic itself was deep burgundy with lighter embroidery, and the set on the mannequin featured a dark-colored reinforced undershirt with matching sash, and leather armor accompaniments. “What do you think?”

** _‘I like it.’_ **

The girl pumped her fist as though celebrating a great victory, moving to the next display featuring cream-colored trousers and a pair of knee-high leather boots. “How about these? Nice and sturdy, and versatile as far as potential color-scheme matches.”

The boy didn’t have much of an opinion on that last part, but sturdy was good so he nodded. This time Morgan did a little dance, and Link found his lips twitching up in amusement.  _ ‘She either needed the distraction more than I thought, or she  _ really _ hates shabby clothing.’ _

The shop keeper, Claree, was kind enough to let Link change in a small side room after he’d paid for his new outfit. He had to admit, it felt much better to be wearing clothing that actually fit. When he opened the door back to the shop, Morgan gave a whistle that had his ears turning pink.

“You look good!” she complimented. “C’mon, turn around. Lemme see the whole thing!” He would like to say he did a sharp twirl that was elegant and in no way embarrassing, but that would be a lie. Really, he awkwardly shuffled in a circle while the blush still covered his face. 

“A perfect fit,” Claree announced. She turned to Morgan with a smile. “We have ladies’ clothes around the side, if you’d like to see about a new look as well.”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly—” But Link had grabbed her by the elbow and was already pulling her to the section the Sheikah had indicated. A distressed whine left the girl’s lips.

** _‘You made me twirl,’_ ** Link smirked, a gleam of mischief in his blue eyes.  ** _‘You’re getting something too.’_ **

“Do we even have enough rupees?” she asked. Link shrugged.

** _‘I’m sure I can break some more rocks if we don’t. That coat of yours isn’t very maneuverable, is it?’_ **

Morgan looked down, examining the heavy fabric with a pout. “...And what do you propose I do with it?”

** _‘I’ll keep it in my Slate for you.’_ **

“...Fine.” The reluctance was tangible, but his argument was solid. In a more upbeat tone, Morgan told him, “Alright, Bright Eyes, find me something.” At the Hylian’s startled expression, she scoffed. “I pretty much picked your outfit. This makes us even. Just make sure it compliments my figure… No pressure or anything!”

_ ‘I think my twirling revenge just backfired,’ _ Link thought, feeling a cold sweat on the back of his neck.

* * *

It took longer for Link to pick something out than for Morgan to, mostly because fashion wasn’t something he seemed to have spent much time thinking about. Claree had a good selection of women’s wear, ranging from the standard Sheikah style many of the villagers wore to stealth wear and metal armor. As such, it took a while before something caught his eye.

First was a set of grey trousers that were similar to the ones Morgan already wore, but a slimmer cut that would reduce wind resistance. Deciding if he was going to be choosing a new outfit for her he may as well go all the way, Link also grabbed a pair of black leather boots in the same style as his own for her to wear.

Despite the selection of reinforced armor and clothing, he found himself gravitating toward a display of loose-fitting tunics. One on a center shelf was purple, slightly brighter in shading than his friend’s beloved coat, and featured traditional Hylian trim embroidered in gold.  _ ‘Perfect!’ _

The short, loose sleeves wouldn’t do much against the chill nights, so Link moved to a display of practical accessories. He grabbed a black leather belt with the same gold disks that adorned the boots, and a pair of reinforced fabric sleeves, also black and featuring gold Hylian embroidery.

Morgan changed in the same side room that he had, Claree clapping in delight when she emerged. “My, those do suit you!”

She seemed to keep herself from giving in to the urge to squirm, instead planting her hands on her hips and grinning at him. Link wondered if maybe she was feeling a bit bare without her huge coat. “Do I look good, or do I look  _ GREAT!” _

Link held up two fingers, indicating his choice with a smile. 

He wondered if shopping always felt like this, or if doing it with friends just made it more enjoyable.

* * *

Feeling that while they were there, they may as well do what that old woman had told them and visit the village leader Impa— which Link recalled the ghost of King Rhoam had also said something about— they asked for directions from Lasli, the greeter Claree had stationed outside. The young woman had been absolutely beside herself to catch sight of Link, even though she hadn’t noticed the Slate at first.

Apparently he was  _ “just her type,” _ whatever _ that  _ meant. 

Morgan, who knew  _ exactly _ what it meant, had scowled fiercely at the girl and attached herself to Link’s arm while making dead eye contact. Then she’d smiled. Not the friendly smile she had when she was genuinely happy, which was most of the time, but the sharp one that indicated she could make someone utterly  _ miserable _ and laugh about it. Their comrades back home would recognise it as the same smile Cherche used before bringing down the axe.

“Which way to Lady Impa’s house?” she asked.

Lasli, startled by her apparent change in demeanor, pointed down the road to the left. She shivered at the  _ thank you _ the rose-haired teen crooned out, watching her and the blond heartthrob start down the street. 

Lasli had the vague feeling that she’d just provoked something that could eat her.

* * *

Morgan kept her fingers laced loosely with Link’s as they walked, satisfied at the reaction she’d gotten from the pushy Sheikah girl. Lasli had pissed her off— who was  _ that forward _ with someone they’d literally just met?

_ ‘Inigo,’ _ she answered herself. _ ‘Inigo is that forward; he’s just smoother about it!’ _ Not that Inigo ever flirted with  _ her _ — and she wasn’t bitter about that! It was far more entertaining to watch him get rejected. Still, even Inigo’s shameless flirting didn’t piss her off that much. So it couldn’t be  _ just _ that.

She kept thinking about it, swinging their clasped hands gently between them while she and Link walked. _ ‘People keep staring at Link,’ _ she concluded. _ ‘Mostly the Slate, but it leads to them staring at him. Which, I mean, I get it— he’s gorgeous!— but he doesn’t like it. It’s not okay for people to just… get in his face like that!’ _

And, okay, she’d kind of decided on her own to insert herself into his business, but what was she supposed to do? Link had a huge, nigh impossible task, and he was alone and he had no memories and no one to help him and—

_ ‘He’s just like you,’ _ said the little voice in her head she knew for a fact was her own brain and  _ not _ Grima or Validar. _ ‘Thrown into a time and place he doesn’t belong to, only Link’s got it worse. You had your father; your father had Chrom and Lissa… What did Link get? A craven, bossy ghost of a man a hundred years dead. You could have been Link, and that terrifies you, wakes up those instincts you like to pretend you haven’t got.’ _

_ ‘Shut up,’ _ Morgan told the voice. This was not Self-Reflection time, this was Have-Link-Talk-to-the-Old-Sheikah-Lady time!

The voice didn’t listen; it was  _ Morgan, _ after all. _ ‘There you go again! Daddy’s Little Girl’s just like her father. You find people you like and decide they’re yours. Your comrades, your friends, your family, yours. And when someone threatens them you swallow that fire you can feel in your throat and you strike with human weapons and words. They’re your Hoard, you stupid girl, you just won’t admit it!’ _

Shoving the voice into a box marked To Think About Never, Morgan’s attention was caught by Link’s hand removing from hers. Feeling unreasonably vulnerable, she tried not to let it sting, but smiled when he signed to ask if she was okay.

** _‘You’re quiet.’_ **

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just thinking too much. I guess I’m still a bit shaken from earlier.”

He indicated the steps up ahead and the men guarding them. ** _ ‘You sure you want to do this now?’_ **

She shrugged. “I can handle it.” Now she was out of her own head, at least. “How about you?”

The boy chewed his lip a bit, then nodded.  ** _‘Let’s go.’_ **

The two guards at the staircase tensed when they saw the strangers coming close, dropping into a fighting stance.

“You there! Who are you?! How dare you trespass upon Lady Impa’s abode!”

“Oh good!” Morgan chirped. “We’re in the right place.” Link’s elbow dug into her side lightly, reminding her not to antagonise the locals.

But he needn’t have worried, because just then the two men caught sight of the Slate. It was like the thing was enchanted— they realized who Link was, their tune changed completely. Magic! ...or a Curse, but  _ magic! _

They were let up without any more fuss, though the elder’s granddaughter Paya was the definition of painfully shy. Link left the door open as he walked through, letting Morgan listen in while she tried to talk with the younger Sheikah.

“...So, you’re finally awake,” Lady Impa said, looking at him from under her traditional hat. She smiled warmly. “It has been quite a long time, Link. I am much older now, but… You remember me, don’t you?”

_ ‘Well fuck,’ _ Morgan thought, leaning more heavily on the other side of the door frame. This made things a little more complicated.

* * *

Link kept his face carefully blank at the question because  _ no, he didn’t, and how was he supposed to tell her that?  _ She was looking at him like he was someone dear to her, or had been once. He was getting…  _ nothing. _

To be honest, this hadn’t been a problem he’d anticipated. He’d been “asleep”_<strike>(dead)</strike>_ for an entire century, and had rather figured anyone he would have known in his previous lifetime would be long dead by now. Which was an  _ awful _ thing to think about, but it was also awful to see the changes on this old woman’s face as the silence dragged— as she slowly realized there was no familiarity in his eyes no matter how hard he looked at her.

“What is the matter?” she asked. “You are looking at me as though I am a stranger to you… It is I, courageous one. Impa. Surely you must at least remember the name Impa?”

** _‘I’m sorry,’_ ** Link signed. ** _ ‘I can’t remember anything from before I woke up.’_ **

“I see… You’ve lost your memory.” He saw the shock, then disappointment. Something inside him curled up; he wondered if he disliked disappointing people in general or this woman who seemed to care about him specifically. Impa sighed heavily, snapping the blond out of his reverie. “Well, it matters not. In fact, it may even be a blessing in disguise for now.”

Thinking of what he would be calling the _Guardian Incidents _in his own head, Link nodded. The less he remembered of _that_, the better. 

“Dearest Link…” the woman began, “please come a bit closer.” He did so, stopping in front of her respectfully. Impa took a deep breath, her wrinkled hands closing into fists on her lap. “A hundred years ago… Yes, a hundred years ago… The kingdom of Hyrule was destroyed.”

The emotion in her words was clear, and Link could tell this was still difficult for her to talk about. “After you fell, Princess Zelda’s final wish was for you to be placed in a sacred slumber. And then… All alone…” her voice shook slightly at this, “Alone she went to face Ganon.”

Impa took a moment to compose herself, forcing her hands to relax and her breath to even. “Before Princess Zelda went nobly to meet her fate… she entrusted me with some words she wished to say to you. I have been waiting one hundred years to deliver the princess’s message.”

Link remembered the voice that had directed him back on the Plateau, and the more hard-headed part of his brain wondered why she didn’t just tell him herself.

“However!” Impa continued seriously. “These words, which the princess risked her life to leave you… If you are to hear them… You must be prepared to risk your life as well.” She sighed, shaking her head in concern, and Link noticed again just how  _ old _ Impa was. Over one hundred, and old enough to deliver a message for the princess a century ago… Of course she was tired. He found himself wondering what she was like back then… What she was like when he had known her.

“...I am afraid that burden may be too much to bear while you are still without your memories.”

Link frowned at that, even before he’d registered Morgan’s squawk of indignance. “Hey! We’re amnesiacs, not invalids! What do you think we’ve been doing out there?!”

Impa blinked at the strange girl who’d practically tripped through her doorway. “And who might you be?”

**_‘She’s my friend,’_** Link explained. **_‘She’s helping me.’_**

“Morgan,” she said by way of introduction. Link elbowed her in the side. “ _ Oy! _ ...Uh, pleased to meet you, Lady Impa.”

The old woman had a sly look on her face that was flying right over Link’s head and making Morgan twitchy. “I see… Link, I trust you’ve explained the situation as you understand it to this young lady?”

He nodded.

“And you’re aware of the dangers you’ll face?” she asked the girl.

“Yes. With respect, Lady Impa, this guy’s already tried to dissuade me— you’ll not be able to.”

“I see...” she smiled, looking between her two guests. “In that case, I leave the choice to you, Link… Do you feel you are ready to receive the princess’s message?”

He nodded, gesturing for Morgan to come stand at his side to hear as well. He didn’t remember, but he did know that Zelda had been important to him. Even without his memories, he should hear what she had to say. He wasn’t sure, but he thought they’d been friends— and maybe having a friend with him while he heard from her, indirectly, would ease some of the emptiness that was aching in his chest.

* * *

Since Link had lost his memory, and Morgan was newer at this history than the woman would ever guess, Impa was kind enough to recount what had happened in the remote past and the attempt to recreate it one hundred years ago. An attempt that failed.

“Despite our best efforts and careful planning, we underestimated the power of Calamity Ganon,” Impa lamented. “In order to avoid ever making that grave mistake again, the princess left you with these words:  _ Free the four Divine Beasts! _ ...That is what she said.”

“Free them?” Morgan questioned.

“Yes,” the elder replied. “The ancient Sheikah weapons wielded by the four champions who Ganon defeated. The Divine Beast Vah Rundania, controlled by Daruk of the Gorons. The Divine Beast Vah Medoh, controlled by Revali of the Rito. The Divine Beast Vah Ruta, controlled by Mipha of the Zora. And the Divine Beast Vah Naboris, controlled by Urbosa of the Gerudo.”

With each name he failed to recognize, Link’s hands balled tighter. If he could remember nothing else, he would remember these names from here on.

_ Daruk of the Gorons. _

_ Revali of the Rito. _

_ Mipha of the Zora. _

_ Urbosa of the Gerudo. _

These were the names of his comrades, quite possibly his friends. And they were dead.

“It would be extremely ill-advised to face the power of the Divine Beasts to help you,” Lady Impa continued. “You must infiltrate the Divine Beasts that were stolen by Ganon one hundred years ago and bring them back to our side. More information about them can be found by locating the four races scattered across Hyrule. Hand me your Slate, Link… I’ll update the map for you.”

Looking at the screen, the old woman frowned a bit. “You haven’t been to this region’s Tower yet…”

** _‘That was our next destination.’_ **

Impa nodded. “I’ve marked the areas for you. The Sheikah Slate will guide you on your way. You must go where it tells you and meet each leader there.” She kept hold of the device for a moment, humming in thought. “It is not yet complete… This device Princess Zelda left you is your guide, and perhaps also the key to your memory. Someone at the research lab in Hateno village might be able to help you.”

** _‘Hateno Village?’_ **

Impa turned the Slate around, pointing to one of the map markers. “This location on the Eastern edge is Hateno Village.” She caught his eyes with her own. “Link… You are Princess Zelda’s only hope— and Hyrule’s as well. Follow your heart, and seize your destiny! There is no turning back.”

Daruk. Revali. Mipha. Urbosa. Zelda.

Even if he were to be given the option, Link didn’t think he could turn back if he wanted to.

Beside him, Morgan squeezed his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's just a little bit shorter, but I'm really happy with it! I actually ended up writing most of this in one day.
> 
> For those of you wondering, Morgan's new outfit is from me playing with this dollmaker:  
https://azaleasdolls.com/dressupgames/magical-elf2.php


	5. Dueling Peaks & Fort Hateno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says in the title, with a bit of relaxing in between because gosh darn it they've earned it.

The ride down the mountain went much more quickly than the ride up, even after Link and Morgan stopped over to trade more Korok seeds with Hestu. (This time, Link opted for more space for apparel in his Slate-- taking into account that he was now carrying items for Morgan as well.) Link also showed off his marksmanship a bit, taking down a mountain goat and harvesting the meat for dinner. 

Arriving back at the stable just before sunset, the two counted rupees and opted to board both Aegis and Palla for the night, and pick them up tomorrow after they visited the Dueling Peaks Tower. Link had visited the general area on his way to the stable, but hadn’t stopped off at the tower itself, and stated it wasn’t necessarily the best area to be riding. The horses would be safer at the stable, and they could take them out before heading for Hateno Village.

They stopped off at the stable for the night, throwing the goat meat into the cooking pot with the rocksalt from earlier. The salted meat hit the spot, the weight of the warm food in their stomachs after a long day of travel and emotional upheaval making both heroes drowsy. Instead of camping around the cooking fire like they had the night before, Morgan convinced Link to splurge for use of the stable beds, and the two teenagers were out as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

* * *

The next morning, Morgan woke slowly to the sounds of voices. Two of the men who had also been staying at the stable were talking a bit too loudly for the fact even the cucco’s hadn’t woken yet.

“...I got the scoop on Misko’s treasure, and it’s great! Listen up, Dak--”

“Prissen! Hang on!” the other man says in a more hushed tone.

“If you’re worried about people listening,” Morgan grumbles, “maybe don’t talk about it in the middle of a communal sleeping area.”

“Ugh, there was someone listening…” the second man muttered. Prissen just seemed excited.

“We’re treasure hunters, on the trail of our latest score!” he bragged. “The treasure of the great bandit Miska! It’s as good as ours!”

“Prissen! You’re going to give it all away!”

“Ah! Sorry, Dak!”

The young woman was sitting up in her paid-for bed, rubbing the sleep dust out of her eyes. While normally she’d be all about treasure hunting, it was too early to have so much energy. At this point Link was stirring as well, stretching his muscles beneath the covers on his own bed. Morgan figured he must have needed the sleep even more than she did, considering he’d been awake long before her the previous morning.

“Whatever,” she yawned at the two. “Good luck, I guess.”

“Thanks!” Prissen smiled. “Dak” just looked at her suspiciously.

It was almost twenty minutes later that Morgan and Link were both awake enough to actually get out of bed. An hour, and another thrown-together meal of apple and mushroom kabobs later, the pair waved to Tesseren and his brother and headed off for Dueling Peaks Tower. It was while they were walking that the blond finally decided to tell her why he’d skipped it the first time through.

“It’s in the river,” Morgan gaped.

** _‘Yeah,’_ ** Link grimaced, ** _ ‘I would’ve needed to swim to get there, and with the octoroks attacking it just didn’t seem worth it to do right then.’_ **

“...The river’s cold, isn’t it.”

** _‘Practically freezing.’_ **

“Fantastic.” Oh, the sweet taste of sarcasm in the morning. “...What’s an octorok?”

* * *

Octorok’s, as it turned out, were  _ assholes. _ The large nautilus-looking creatures spat boulders from a distance, and it was either hit them with arrows or use a shield to knock the projectiles back at them. 

They took out the octoroks before they climbed the tower. It was a pain, since blocking was still not Morgan’s strong suit and she was unable to use her lightning magics due to both her and Link being absolutely soaked. Link grabbed the octo balloons and stowed them in the Slate, hopeful they’d be useful for something and not wanting to waste the chance for ingredients.

Getting up the tower was also not very fun, but at least they didn’t have to worry about being accosted by flying boulders. By the time they reached the top, Morgan’s arms felt like jelly. Link, who seemed to only need a quick breather on the provided platforms before he was fine, looked at her in concern when she began doing a few arm stretching exercises after finishing the climb.

** _‘Are you okay?’_ **

“Yeah,” she huffed, “just more out of shape than I thought I was, I guess. I’ll try not to slow you down.”

The blond put a hand on her shoulder to get her full attention.  ** _‘You’re helping me. And we’re friends-- you need to slow down, you need a rest, you tell me. Okay?’_ **

“Heh. Yeah. Alright.” She smiled warmly. Link really was too sweet. Changing the subject she said, “So, show me what you do up here!”

Link walked to the pedestal in the center of the platform. It was essentially the same as the one that had opened the shrine in Kakariko, except the Slate slot was sticking up from the top and vertical. As soon as the Hylian let go, the slot rotated to a horizontal position and sank into the surface. 

_ “Sheikah Tower Activated” _ , a mechanical voice rang out. There was a rumbling from the roof, and then a blue light seemed to rise from below in a mist. A circle of runes in the floor near the edge glowed brightly for a few seconds, then settled.

_ “Scanning area,” _ the voice said. The huge stalactite that was attached to the ceiling began to glow with runes, which slid down the surface like water drops and coalesced in that familiar blue eye. The glowing tear dropped from the stalactite onto the matching symbol on the back of Link’s Slate.  _ “Regional map extracted. Sheikah Slate updated. Additional functionality detected.” _

Link frowned at this last sentence, apparently not having expected that. The screen went from the newly-detailed map to an icon that looked like funny little circles at the top of a tower.

_ Sheikah Sensor, _ the screen read. Then, in smaller print below:  _ The sensor reacts when you are close to shrines that you have not yet visited. If you head in the direction where the reaction is strongest, you should be able to find the shrine. You can enable or disable the sensor from your map screen. _

“Huh. Well, that’s useful.”

* * *

It turned out that Link had already been through the shrines in the immediate area. This had mostly been by chance, running up hills and cliffs and using his glider to get back down. Link really loved flying, and Morgan made a mental note to take him for a ride on Minerva at the earliest opportunity.

On the walk back to Dueling Peaks Stable, the duo fought two bands of bokoblins, weaker than the group that had stolen Hestu’s maracas, and a few jelly-like things with eyeballs that Link told her were chuchus. Link also took the opportunity to collect various herbs that grew in the area, hoping to use them in cooking and medicine. He explained each one to her as he picked, and by the time they got back it was already midday. At the edge of the forest, Link used his marksmanship skills to fell a large boar that yielded twice as much consumable meat as the mountain goat the night before.

They ate a hearty lunch and after a quick dash into the stable’s outhouse, Link once again asked Rensa for directions.

“Hateno Village? Oho, that’s easy!” the man said. “Head on the same road you took to Kakariko yesterday, but when you get to the fork before Kakariko Bridge bear left. Keep to the road, and you’ll get to Fort Hateno in no time.”

** _‘Fort Hateno?’_ **

“Ah, that’s right. I’d forgotten you and your friend aren’t from around here.” Link wasn’t really sure on that, at least for his part, but he wasn’t going to get into it. Maybe he’d ask Impa, the next time he was in Kakariko…

_ ‘Does it really matter?’  _ part of his mind asked.  _ ‘Maybe not,’  _ he conceded, running through those names again in his head. _ Daruk of the Gorons. Mipha of the Zora. Revali of the Rito. Urbosa of the Gerudo. Princess Zelda of Hyrule. _

He knew the important things-- what did it matter if Link knew where he’d been from, with everyone he’d have known (barring Impa) dead?

Rensa had still been talking while Link had zoned out. “...would’ve been destroyed if not for the Hero and Fort Hateno. If you want to know more, there’s usually some guy hanging around there who knows all about it. He’s a historian or something, I think.”

** _‘I see. Thank you.’ _ ** Maybe Link would talk to him. _ Maybe. _

* * *

The thing about Fort Hateno, Rensa told him, is that it was about halfway between the stable and Hateno Village. Considering it was already early afternoon, it was likely that they’d either be camping within the Fort walls overnight or arriving at the village gates after dark, depending on how much they pushed the horses. Neither option was ideal.

“What do you think?” Morgan asked. Link chewed his lip for a moment, considering.

** _‘Either way we don’t get to Hateno Village until tomorrow,’_ ** he told her. ** _ ‘I know they’ve rested well, but I don’t want to exhaust Aegis and Palla.’_ **

“So, stay another night and head out in the morning?”

The Hylian nodded. ** _ ‘It’s probably safest.’_ **

* * *

So they hung out for the rest of the afternoon, taking the horses for a quick ride around the area and foraging more food. Apples, mushrooms, herbs… They also climbed on some old broken down things, that may have been some kind of Guardians. The structures were larger than the one they’d fought in Ta’loh Naeg Shrine, and covered extensively in moss and other vegetation. Looking at them gave Link a slight feeling of discomfort, but nothing too bad. He figured it was probably because they were in no shape to get up… especially after he took some more ancient mechanical bits from them. Just in case.

Morgan and Link ended up talking to an adventurer named Sagessa, who gave a Hasty Elixir to both of them since she had so many. They spent a good hour or two talking about elixir recipes and uses, with Sagessa even giving advice on where to find various ingredients.

When they went to refill their canteens at the river, Link’s eye was caught by a few fish swimming around. He licked his lips a bit.

** _‘Want fish for dinner?’_ ** he asked, indicating his find.

“Oh! Yeah, that sounds awesome. But how do we catch them?”

Link frowned, considering for a moment. He didn’t have any spears in the slate, but he did have an abundance of arrows…

The next hour was spent with Link trying to shoot the fish. Keyword:  _ trying. _ The slippery things were much more difficult to get than the mountain goat or boar had been. He only successfully hit two of them, and eventually had to strip down to his shorts to retrieve his catch along with the many arrows that had just gotten lodged in the riverbed. Morgan was sat on the shore laughing her ass off, when Link decided that since he was already in the water he may as well catch the fish by hand. Somehow it ended up with a higher success rate.

At the end of it all, Link was squeezing water out of his ponytail in his underwear, eight fish were on the bank next to the pile of his clothes, and Morgan was laughing so hard she couldn’t do more than wheeze for five straight minutes.

It was a good day.

* * *

The next morning, when Morgan awoke yet again to the treasure hunters talking a little too loudly about this Misko’s treasure, she lobbed a pillow at them. It hit Domidak in the back of the head. 

_ ‘Really, for people who don’t want to be overheard, they sure talk about it a lot,’ _ she thought. 

Breakfast was a quick affair, and in no time Aegis and Palla were saddled and ready to go. The horses seemed eager after they spent most of the previous day resting. Following Rensa’s directions was also easy; they mostly just had to keep to the path. The road to Hateno was much longer than to Kakariko, but the flatter terrain was much easier on the animals. 

A few times, they ran into travellers going the other way and stopped to chat. Any enemies they came upon they agreed in advance to fleeing so as to keep Palla and Aegis from being injured, but even then it was only a few red bokoblins and a handful of chuchus.

As they rode, they noticed that the closer they got to where Rensa said the Fort would be, the more dead Guardians were scattered about. It made Link twitchy, a feeling of anxiety building in his stomach. Though he didn’t tell her, Morgan kept shooting him glances every once in a while like she was checking on him. 

After catching her for the fourth time in two hours, he signed,  ** _‘I’m fine. These aren’t getting up any time soon.’_ **

She seemed to take it to heart, and ended up telling him some ridiculous stories about people she knew back home. Link suspected it was to distract him from the Guardians, but he had to admit it worked. Around lunchtime it became possible to see the large, imposing stone walls of what could only be Fort Hateno up ahead.

_ “Gods,” _ Morgan breathed. Link felt that anxious feeling spike.

There were the remains of Guardians everywhere around the walls, radiating outward. Link remembered Rensa saying the village would have been destroyed if not for the Fort, and looking at what was left even a hundred years later that was an understatement.

If these things had found and attacked an ordinary place like a village, there wouldn’t have been anything left. That place would have been obliterated.

_ Noise. Screaming. Light. Pain.  _

<strike> _ Nothing. _ </strike>

Link dismounted without comment, going up to the nearest metal corpse and pulling any loose parts free. He kept this up, going around to every one of them until he was satisfied they wouldn’t work again without the screws, bolts, shafts and springs to keep them from falling apart. Morgan just watched him work, keeping an eye out for enemies while letting the horses graze.

* * *

When he pulled himself back onto Aegis, Link had a tidy sum of Guardian parts tucked away in his Slate for later use.

“Better?” Morgan asked him. The boy nodded. Though he was still feeling some anxiety being around the machines, it was much more manageable after making sure  _ personally _ that they wouldn’t be getting up. But now he was feeling something else…

A loud gurgling filled the clearing, and Link’s face turned bright red. His friend laughed.

“Sounds like lunch time!” she told him. “I saw a guy with a cooking fire inside the fort. Let’s go ask if he’s opposed to sharing it.”

The area inside of the Fort walls was beautiful. There wasn’t really another word for it-- it had been taken over by the forest, looking for all the world like the battle evidenced outside had never happened. Palla and Aegis were each given a quick brushdown and some apples before their riders left them to graze on the long grass.

The fire under the cooking pot was going strong, and the man Morgan had mentioned was leaning against a neary tree, snoring lightly. They figured they’d cook extra and eat quietly, and leave him to his nap. It was the smell of cooking meat that eventually woke Garill, though he swore up and down he hadn’t been sleeping.

“I was praying!” the older Hylian insisted. “For the Hero and everyone who lost their lives at Fort Hateno.”

Morgan just looked at him skeptically.  _ ‘Right,’ _ she thought,  _ ‘everyone snores when they pray. Sounds legit.’ _

“Fort Hateno was the last line of defense between Hateno Village and the tragedy that happened all those years ago,” the man continued. “If not for the fort and the soldiers who held the line here, Hyrule as we know it might have ended entirely! It’s our duty as survivors to pray that those who gave their lives find peace and to pass on the story of the warrior.”

Link’s expression was oddly blank as he chewed, and Morgan shifted slightly to part of her leg against his. When the older man asked if they would also pray for those people with him, both teenagers agreed without hesitating.

  
_ ‘I don’t know if Naga can hear me from here, but there’s nothing to lose by trying.’ _ Hopefully Hylia wouldn’t be too offended by her foreign religion, but if she was, well… Too bad. Morgan owed too much to Naga to pray to anyone else.

After lunch, the two said good-bye to Garill and promised to chat some more the next time they came through. Hateno Village was still a few hours travel away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was not as long as I wanted it to be, but I let myself get way behind this week. I'm blaming the suddenly freezing weather (I live in Maine... we have snow, which partially melted... so now we have ice too.)
> 
> In the end I decided that this was a better ending than the scene I had planned after it. So, next time: An encounter with the Yiga Clan and reaching Hateno Village!


End file.
